A Quote by Richard Cohen

The concept of cultural appropriation is nothing less than an intellectual fence: Keep out.

Richard Cohen

Quote Topics

Appropriation Concept Cultural Fence Intellectual Keep Less Nothing Out Than

Quote Author

Richard Cohen
American - Journalist
Born: February 6, 1941

The largest cultural menace in America is the conformity of the intellectual cliques which, in education as well as the arts, are out to impose upon the nation their modish fads and fallacies, and have nearly succeeded in doing so. In this cultural issue, we are, without reservations, on the side of excellence (rather than "newness") and of honest intellectual combat (rather than conformity).

William F. Buckley, Jr.

What do you mean less than nothing? I don't think there is any such thing as less than nothing. Nothing is absolutely the limit of nothingness. It's the lowest you can go. It's the end of the line. How can something be less than nothing? If there were something that was less than nothing, then nothing would not be nothing, it would be something - even though it's just a very little bit of something. But if nothing is nothing, then nothing has nothing that is less than it is.

E. B. White

A fence can be protective around your family - a familial fence. Then, there are the people who only know how to take, to abuse, to offend and they build fences to keep you out. They don't have time to talk, they don't have kind words, they only talk about themselves. They never give an olive branch or forgiveness - they create a fence because of their personality or behavior and they want to create a barrier to keep people out.

Russell Hornsby

..Acts of appropriation are part of the process by which we make ourselves. Appropriating - taking something for one’s own use - need not be synonymous with exploitation. This is especially true of cultural appropriation. The “use” one makes of what is appropriated is the crucial factor.

bell hooks

I am hopeful that the concept of 'cultural appropriation' is a passing fad: people with different backgrounds rubbing up against each other and exchanging ideas and practices is self-evidently one of the most productive, fascinating aspects of modern urban life.

Lionel Shriver

The main problem with cultural appropriation comes from dominant groups 'borrowing' from marginalized groups who face oppression or have been stigmatized for their cultural practices throughout history.

Franchesca Ramsey

Coldplay's 'Hymn for the Weekend' video featuring Beyonce is already caught in a heated conversation about cultural appreciation of Indian religion and culture versus cultural appropriation of that culture for the western gaze.

Anthea Butler

Why does no one speak of the cultural advantages of the country? For example, is a well groomed, ecologically kept, sustainably fertile farm any less cultural, any less artful, than paintings of fat angels on church ceilings?

Gene Logsdon

In the intellectual order, the virtue of humility is nothing more nor less than the power of attention.

Simone Weil

This country needs nothing less than wholesale federalisation. The reasons are threefold: economic, democratic and cultural.

Chuka Umunna

The personal appropriation of cliches is a condition for the spread of cultural tourism.

Serge Daney

If you want to talk about cultural appropriation, we have to go back to the Greeks.

Frances McDormand

I will just say, appropriation is an intellectual idea until it happens to you. It's a philosophy, and it's got its own intellectual framework. Then there's what happens when it's your photograph. Then it's personal, and that's all I'll say.

Sam Abell

There is nothing that an intellectual less likes to change than his mind, or a politician his policy.

Theodore Dalrymple

Private appropriation of the Earth’s surface, the natural resources, and the means of life is nothing less a crime than a crime against humanity, but the comparative few who are beneficiaries of this iniquitous social arrangement, far from being viewed as criminals meriting punishment, are the exalted rulers of society, and the people they exploit gladly render them homage and obeisance.